We were lucky to catch up with Diana Picon recently and have shared our conversation below.

Diana, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

I’m a first generation immigrant from Sonora, México who was very determined to get her Engineering degree. I have no generational wealth and haven’t been lucky enough to win the Powerball. So I had to get creative with my money and make the most of it to be able to pay for tuition, rent, utilities, textbooks, and groceries. Up until this point, crochet was just a hobby I played with for a few months when I was twelve. Around my Sophomore year of college I picked up a hook and some yarn and reconnected with crochet. It was nice, feeling how my hands sort of remembered how to do the most basic stitches when my brain didn’t yet. After watching a few video tutorials I felt confident enough with my skills. One day I was running in circles in my mind worrying about money and came across the idea of selling crochet items. Then the question was What to make? and Where to sell it? I decided that Etsy would be the cheapest way to start, while providing lots of visibility. At first I thought of making baby booties, because looking at Etsy stats I found that baby items were the most sold across the platform. That didn’t do well, because my posts would drown in a sea of listings for baby items. Infinity scarves didn’t do well either. In February 2018 I figured since spring and easter were coming up I could make a bunny themed item, and I landed on mug koozies. That was when I made my first sale. It was also the first time I had thought “uh oh, how do I ship this?? How does sending mail work in this country??” And from then on, until I graduated, my Etsy shop was like a hobby that ran in the background in between classes, while walking home, and when grocery shopping. It took me at least a year to “standardize” my shipping methods, I couldn’t do this until I defined what my products would be. Sales dropped completely right after easter and it was back to brainstorming. What worked? What did NOT work? How can I reach more people? The entire journey had been taking baby steps and running into problems as the platform grew.

Eventually I pieced together how to handle my finances, shipping and handling, marketing, graphic design, social media outreach, in-person and online sales. And found that amigurumi was the form of crochet that brought me the most happiness. About two years in, I taught myself how to write, test, and edit crochet patterns. I drew a lot of inspiration and inside tips from fellow creators on instagram and youtube.

And now I’ve defined my products as: figurine commissions made from reference pictures, and crochet patterns that invoke a sense of cheer, nostalgia, and childlike wonder whilst occasionally providing social commentary about the world around us.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hi! I’m Diana Picón, a queer, neurodivergent, Mexican woman with one-too-many opinions, and my business is The Grumpy Granny. A platform where I offer access to my art in two ways: 1. Commissions in the shape of custom made crochet figurines created using reference pictures, and 2. Digital access to crochet patterns, ranging from quirky characters, to social commentary. I’m someone that likes to deeply appreciate things within their context, So I often associate modern art with current social issues. This train of thought usually receives one of two reactions, either the other person finds it overwhelming, or fascinating. The ones able to appreciate the effort that goes into my creations are the ones that keep me inspired and moving. I am often presented with the opportunity of selling replicas of a single crochet product that sells well, but my spirit yearns to play, to make new things, to try different techniques.

My amigurumi commissions range from clients requesting a crochet figurine of a character from their favorite anime, to artists seeking to bring a beloved character of their own creation and design to life (original characters). I ask for clients to contact me through Etsy and provide pictures of what they want their figurine to look like, and we settle on a price depending on the complexity of the character’s design. This has given me the opportunity to remain constant with my work, while providing room for creative freedom.

Every once in a while, clients working through one of my crochet patterns will contact me with questions, and I appreciate their trust for reaching out for help. I try to reach back to my clients’ questions as fast as possible because I know how frustrating it can be to feel stuck in something that’s supposed to be fun. Maybe it’s because crochet demands a lot of patience, but conflict resolution with clients is usually straightforward, and communicating over text message is ideal to keep dialogue clear and flowing.

Currently, I appreciate the freedom of being self employed, and being able to dedicate more time to getting involved within my community. I love living in Tucson, getting to witness people confidently being their authentic selves is always inspiring. Plus, the Arizona sun is perfect for gardening.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

I sell crochet patterns in three different platforms, Etsy, Ravelry, and Ribblr, but I only sell commissions and crochet items through Etsy because it is a marketplace that focuses on broadcasting handmade and vintage items. The other two are platforms dedicated for crochet and knitting enthusiasts.

I’m comfortable with Etsy as a selling platform because it has a great audience. They are user friendly and make it easy to do administrative tasks. This does come at the cost of high commission fees, but I feel like the benefits outweigh the costs in my case.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I struggle with being in front of the camera. I’m working my way to feeling fully comfortable, but when I first started my brand it felt like an uphill battle. This, combined with the fact that we live in a Digital age and NEED to make online content to be seen as a brand, was a dreadful experience. Last year I was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder), only to confirm that that was what I was struggling with throughout my 26 years alive. I have since received professional help. And now that the fog in my brain has cleared a little bit, I can see how overwhelming making decisions was. Specifically all the tiny decisions you need to make to start and sustain a business.

When it comes to content creation, there’s so many paths to choose from, and I felt dreadful. I just kept on cheering on myself to post as much as possible. After much trial and error, the online platforms I choose to use are etsy, instagram, facebook, pinterest, and tiktok. My approach has always been to display my creations as clearly as possible to emphasize the detail that goes into crochet. When creating content I try to provide both quality and beauty to engage my audience, but a lot of times this doesn’t work as well as expected. I’ve fallen victim to the trap of trying to please your public by mirroring their reactions, and this mentality made me struggle with making art all together. To maximize my engagement I decided to try publishing my content on all the social media platforms I could think of. On facebook I’m mostly contacted by people that like to crochet and we’ll chat about yarn and stitches, but the audience range feels very limited. Pinterest has a broad audience, and aesthetically pleasing posts do proportionally well. I tried twitter for a while and abandoned it because my engagement was non-existent. To my surprise, the platform that has allowed me to engage with my audience AND provided massive brand exposure, was tiktok. To be honest that’s what I expected from my instagram account, but my feed feels like a portfolio, and nobody can figure out how to please the algorithm.

If you’re someone seeking to start your online platform, my advice would be to trust your gut when it comes to the big decisions, and to be as consistent as possible. The general trend tends to be Quantity > Quality. So try to make as many posts as you feel comfortable with, but at the end of the day, have fun. It’s your brand and YOU are supposed to love it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://grumpy-granny.com/
• Instagram: https://grumpy-granny.com/about/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/the.grumpy.granny/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-picon/
• Other: Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheGrumpyGranny Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/thegrumpygranny

Image Credits
Diana Picon